This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
The European Union’s 27 members agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the target being “high-value sectors” including energy, finance, and trade.
The package, the bloc’s 14th against Russia, also seeks to make it more difficult for third parties to circumvent all of the measures put in place against Moscow since February 2022, when Russian troops poured over the border, setting off Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.
“Our sanctions have already significantly weakened the Russian economy and prevented Putin from accomplishing his plans to destroy Ukraine, although he still continues the illegal aggression targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure,” said Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
“The 14th package of sanctions demonstrates our unity in supporting Ukraine and seeking to limit Russia’s criminal activities against Ukrainians, including efforts to circumvent EU measures.”
The package includes restrictive measures on additional 116 individuals and entities “responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the bloc said, adding that it was also “equipping itself with additional tools to crack down on circumvention.”
Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, the United States, Britain, the European Union, Australia, Canada, and Japan have imposed thousands of sanctions on Russia.
The main target of the measures has been Russian finances, especially the networks that fund Moscow’s war effort.
Moscow dismissed the new measures, saying the sanctions are ineffective and will actually hurt the European Union.
The West is not looking at the consequences for its own economy or for the prosperity of people in the EU, said Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko in Moscow.
“The purpose of the sanctions was to strangle the Russian economy and destroy the cohesion of society. The EU has achieved the opposite,” said Grushko.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced that it banned additional people from politics, business, and institutions from entering Russia. No details were given.
Amid the grinding conflict that’s claimed tens of thousands of lives, the companies, entities, and individuals connected to Russia’s defense and security sector have been added to ever-growing lists compiled by Brussels, Washington, and their partners meant to curb Moscow’s capacity on the battlefield.
But as the war enters its third year, a growing body of evidence shows Moscow can circumvent many of these sanctions and get key items for its military from third countries despite Western attempts to stop those efforts.
The EU’s sanctions list now includes more than 2,200 entities and individuals.
In the energy sector, the bloc said reloading services for Russian LNG in EU territory for the purpose of transshipment operations to third countries is banned.
The new package outlaws the use of the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), a specialized financial-messaging service developed by the central bank of Russia to neutralize the effect of restrictive measures.
It also forces EU operators transferring industrial know-how for the production of battlefield goods to third-country commercial counterparts to include contractual provisions to ensure that such know-how will not be used for goods intended for use in Russia.
Earlier this month, the United States issued new sanctions targeting hundreds of individuals and companies for helping Moscow circumvent Western blocks on obtaining key technology, including seven Chinese-based companies.
